Final Product

Fig. 1: Front view of final constructed product

Fig. 2: Top view of final constructed product, here you can see
the receiver/battery box in the top left corner and the gears and
the motor in the bottom left corner

Fig. 3: Isometric view of final constructed product

All pictures were taken by MM.

Testing

My partner, ES, and I did preliminary testing.  I tested my part in a safe and dry environment to show that the system worked in perfect conditions.  My partner then took the vessel and camera attachment home to test them together and the vessel was able to move with the attachment included.  Below are some pictures of what I did to test that the camera and controller worked.


Fig. 1: Student, MR, films clay fish in computer lab with camera



Fig. 2: Everything the camera films appears on the TV live
because the camera's receiver is hooked up to the TV

All pictures taken by MM.

Finalized AutoCAD Drawings

Figure 1: Side view of final design

Figure 2: Front view of final design

 

Figure 3: Front rendered view of final design

All drawings were done by MM using AutoCAD.

Gear Configuration

Fig. 1: Rudimentary drawing of the way the gears will be configured in the box

Drawing done by MM using Microsoft Paint.

Log 3/17/2011

Last night I worked for three hours with my mentor supervising me.  I finished painting the entire wooden structure.  I then covered the paint with clear acrylic sealant.  I epoxied the support beams of the structure to the box and screwed the receiver/battery piece to the box.  To give the beams more support I epoxied and screwed corner braces between the box and the support beams.  I also epoxied on one side of the plastic Velcro that will attach my piece to my partner ES's piece.  I just did some touch ups to the paint on my structure then all I will have to do is screw the camera on and test.  I will use the rest of the period to work on my poster.

Log 3/16/2011

Today I started painting my structure.  Tonight I will re-assemble it and attach the velcro and I will be done.  All I have left to do is finish my poster and other work.

Log 3/15/2011

Today in class I finally finished assembling the first system in my project and it didn't work.  The gear shafts weren't straight enough.  Tonight I took the project home and worked for 3 hours taking it apart for the third time and trying to find yet another solution.  While trying to hammer a nail in I cracked the box.  While trying to move other pieces around the wires on the receiver tore and I had to solder them again.  I had to cut and re-cut, drill and re-drill and the gears were still giving me trouble.  I can't honestly see this project getting done the way I originally planned.
There were some things I could not determine without having the product actually assembled and one of those things was the power of the first motor.  Once I assembled everything I realized that it was not strong enough to turn a second motor, the camera, and more gears.  Because of this and the time limit that is fast approaching I have decided to amend my design so that the camera will only turn 360 degrees and not tilt.  This will not be a devastating blow to the design seeing as the glass bottom of the boat is so small.
All that is left to do is paint my portion of the project and re-attach the support beams as well as glue on the plastic velcro.  Now that I have cut a major part of my work out I should be able to finish on time.

Update to Mr. Alfonse 3/14-18/2011

By the end of this week I hope to have all the inner components in place including the motor and battery pack.  I have to drill another hole for the gear shaft.  The gears should all be in place by the end of this week and I will be able to start work on the outer components including the camera and tilt mechanism.

Progress 3/11/2011

Fig. 1: View of half-assembled support box with descriptions of the parts of the box



Fig. 2: Second view of half-assembled box

All pictures taken by MM.

Log 3/11/2011

I left my project at home, so I am spending this class period updating my blog and calendar and typing up my mentor contacts.

Log 3/9/2011

Today I measured out where my gears need to be located inside of the box.  I drilled a shallow hole in the bottom of my box and put a piece of a a coffee stirer that would act as low friction base for the gear shaft into the hole.  I also glued the wooden pieces that will keep the first motor in place as well as the pieces of wood that will hold the receiver and battery pack in place.

Update to Mr. Alfonse 3/7-11/2011

Last week I lost two days of work because I had a class trip on Thursday and went home early on Friday.  Today I will finish sanding, hopefully early in the class period.  I should have the gears for my 360 rotation in place and working by the end of this week.

Update for Mr. Alfonse 2/28- 3/4/2011

Today I will be waiting for wood filler to dry.  While it is drying I will measure the gears and motors and determine the distances at which I will have to place the gears.  I will hopefully have the gears and mechanisms ready to install by the end of Friday.  I will be losing work time tomorrow because of the trip to New York, but hopefully I will still be able to meet my goal at the end of the week.